Harvesting Zombies - Enchanticals

Details: 
Harvesting Zombies
Enchanticals Perfume

Notes: 
Harvesting Zombies is an incredibly lavish, diverse & harmonious fragrance for the senses made with the finest extractions and oils available, with earthy, aged patchouli essential oil, moody black amber essential oil, sassy cinnamon, and a harvest of amazing, fresh Autumn fruits and spices so yummy no human or Zombie could ever resist.

In the vial this smells like spicy autumn fruits - apple, pear, the kind of things you make cold weather puddings out of. On my wrist it's mostly apple and cinnamon at first, and it's obviously real cinnamon oil because it itched like hell almost immediately. I was tempted to scrub it off but I let it go for a while to see how it would go, and it did subside after about 20 or 30 minutes. The dry down is a warm spicy scent – the cinnamon is not prevalent here, it’s more a mixed spice blend with the patchouli there but not taking over. The sillage is fairly low, but it lasted a really long time - at the end of the day I could still faintly smell it on my wrist and it had faded to something familiar I couldn't quite put my finger on. I asked Noodles what it smelled like to her at that point and she said, "Old people. No, old hippies." Right. Patchouli, then.  As fruit scents go, this is more on the warm side, and therefore more palatable to me than the light, bright young ones that I hate so much, but it’s still not really my cup of tea.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 57!

Cantina Band - Delightful Rot

Details:
Cantina Band
Delightful Rot Perfumery

Notes: 
A bawdy, raucous scent. A mix of smoky air and scuffed wood bar, dusty boots, aliens musks and the sweet molasses edge of rye liquor.

In the vial this is a smoky, booze scent. Applied to the skin the smoke and wood really come out. There's something about this I really like, though I'm not entirely sure what it is - the smell as a whole is just mmm.... it's weird because when I first got this order from Delightful Rot and opened up all the vials to sniff them, this was the one that made me reel back in horror. Yet smelling it now in the vial I'm all over it.

The smoke retreats considerably when it dries down, but there's still an edge of it there. Mostly it's a musky wood with the liquor adding an almost vanilla-like note. Very warm and snuggly - an aran sweater kind of perfume. Sillage and longevity were both medium - not overpowering but definitely noticeable.

Rating: 
3/5 I like it a lot, not sure if I'd have use for a full bottle of it though.

Day 56!

Bourbon Street - Deep Midnight Perfumes

Details:
Bourbon Street
Deep Midnight Perfumes

Notes:
Bourbon Street: The Lamplighter turns down his last alleyway, and you long to follow the scent of sexy bay rum touched with vanilla and musk. Originally created as a men's fragrance but popular as a unisex scent!

I'm really enjoying these blokier scents lately. Am I maturing or just getting old, I wonder? This is the masculine version of any number of vanilla musk scents out there, with the bay rum giving it a slinky smokey edge in the vial and when first applied. There's nothing really unique about it but I do like it quite a bit. Sillage is medium, but it doesn't last all that long - it was gone in a couple of hours.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 55!

Bliss - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Bliss
Bewitching Brews
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate.

Well. It's chocolate. Aside from a very faint herbal note in the vial, there's really nothing more to this than rich chocolate all the way through. If you like chocolate scents, you'll probably like this one. If you don't, you definitely won't.

I wasn't overly jazzed by this, but I have been buying and trying a ton of chocolate scents lately and as much as I love them, I'm kind of over them for now. I need to put them all away and come back to them when the weather is colder. The sillage was medium - not crazy, but I could definitely smell it in the air around myself for quite some time. It lasted quite a long time - at least 7 or 8 hours.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 54!

Silver Lavender - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Silver Lavender 
Possets Perfume

Notes:
An instant classic, the unbelievable wonder of a vanilla like lavender such as this beauty I have found, paired up with the Silver accord we all love, with a drop or two of sandalwood to mellow it all out and you have a perfection of fragrance fit for any occasion from seduction to a family dinner to a tax audit to a declaration of true love. Yes, this is one of the few really 100% versitile fragrances out there. Always correct, always beautiful, can be icy and can be hott. I think the secret ingredient is you, the perfume just conforms to what you want to be.

I don’t mind lavender in soaps, shampoos, and those sewn up scent bags you buy at school fetes and hang in your wardrobe. However, I’m not a fan of lavender in perfumes. I received this as a freebie in a recent Possets order; I would never have bought it myself. In the vial this is a soapy lavender with a bit of vanilla. Applied to my skin, a creamy note comes out, which does take a little of the soapiness away, but it still reminds me of something you’d buy at the last minute in Chemist Warehouse because you forgot to get your Grandma a Mother’s Day present. The dry down is a bland vanilla sandalwood, with the lavender coming and going. Sillage is reasonably low for lavender – I caught whiffs of it when I moved my arm, but I was unaware of it otherwise. It did last quite a long time though – at least 6 hours at which point I forgot about it because it was just so uninteresting to me.

Rating: 
2/5

Day 53!

Victorian Black - BoondockG

Details: 
Victorian Black 
BoondockG Soapery

Notes: 
Wickedly seductive ~ a floral blend of delicate violets, clover flower, heather ~ hints of basil and fennel ~ fine notes of oakmoss and labdanum….with just a hint of powder. 

There’s really not a lot to say about this. In the vial and on the skin it smells like an English garden – very much an old lady floral. There’s not a lot of change in the dry down, though there is a talcum powder note that comes out. I don’t get the basil or fennel at all – there is nothing about this that spices up the floral on me. It’s pretty, but there is nothing whatsoever interesting or remarkable about it. The sillage is low and longevity is medium. After about 5 hours there's just a very soft amber base left.

Rating: 
2/5

Day 52!*

Slowly catching up. 

Spellbound - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

*I'm still a couple of days behind after bailing during the heat, and I probably won't catch up on that (or comments and other people's blogs) until the weekend. But I haven't forgotten you! 

Details: 
Spellbound
Ars Amatoria
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
Perfectly enchanting! An irresistably sexual, utterly rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk.

In the vial I was confused about this before I looked at the notes.

"Smells like rose. Wait... is it? No... maybe lotus? No, wait - I'm sure that's rose. Noodles, what does this smell like?"
"Niceness."
"Thanks. Super helpful."

It's kind of rose, but kind of not. It's more of a super musky sweet oriental than overtly floral. Very feminine, very sexified - a good perfume for a night out when you're frocked up and have got the spanx and your fanciest earrings out. The dry down brings the rose out a bit more for a while, but that doesn't last more than an hour, and then it's back to musk. This perfume has quite a lot of throw and lasts for ages - I was pretty conscious of it most of the day and wondering if I'd gone a bit OTT with it. On the downside, for the first hour or so it made me feel a bit sneezy. I wouldn't buy a full bottle of this because I don't frock up very often and it's not the kind of thing I'd just wear out and about, but I do like it quite a bit.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 51!

Pink Snowballs 2012 - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Honestly, it's late at night, I've had a few wines, and I can't be arsed getting up and taking a picture - here's a Google image of 'pink snowballs'. 

Details: 
Pink Snowballs
Yule 2012
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
A lighthearted winter scent: chilly vanilla rose snowballs! Dainty, soft, and certainly unfit for flinging!

In the vial this is vanilla with a chilly, sort of mint note. Wet on skin the rose comes out as well, and it’s a bright, cold girly scent. I’d say this is quite young – I could see Noodles pulling this off nicely. The rose goes powdery fairly quickly and stays that way for quite a while, but it mellows nicely eventually with a lovely musk note. The sillage is fairly low but it has really good longevity – I could still smell it on my wrist at the end of the work day. 

Rating: 
2/5 I think I’ll put this one away and age it for a while. I like the opening quite a bit, but I’m not keen on the powdery dry down bit in the middle before it finally goes to a musky rose. BPALs generally age well, so hopefully it will improve if it’s tucked away for a few months.

Day  50!

Serendipity - Enchanticals

Details:
Serendipity
Enchanticals Perfume

Notes: 
Serendipity is a simple, calming, earthy blend of both light and dark patchouli essential oil, and Attar of Rose, coming together in perfect harmony.

In the vial and when first applied this is a very herbal, grassy patchouli, quite dark. It stays that way for about 20 minutes or so and then morphs into a powdery rose, with the patchouli retreating very much into the background. I’m not a fan of patchouli and this perfume – while not terrible – doesn’t appeal to me either. I think fans of patch/rose scents would like it, though. The sillage is medium and it lasted a really long time – I put this on early evening and I could still smell it on my wrist the next morning.

 
Rating: 
2/5 Nothing wrong with it, just not my cup of tea.

Day 49! 

Vice - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Vice 
Sin & Salvation
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
Voluptuous and indulgent! A deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom.


In the vial this smells like chocolate and something medicinally herbal – it’s quite masculine. Once applied it becomes... well, I don’t know if anyone else has this experience but there are quite a few BPAL scents that just turn into a generic mash of smells on me, and this is one of them. It smells of nothing in particular, it’s neither pleasant or unpleasant, it’s just there. The dry down was the same – I couldn’t pick out a single note or compare it to anything aside from the other BPALs that have this effect on me. Sillage and longevity was medium.

Rating:
2/5 Not a scrubber, so I wouldn't give it a 1, but... meh.

Day 48!

Cri de Coeur - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Cri de Coeur (Cry of the Heart)
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
This fragrance is a real stunner, a true Posset with large lashings of Vanilla, nougat, coconut, sweet musk, tobacco flower,swirling cotton, a drop of nag champa, chypre, black musk and sugar cane. There is the essence of a very good dragon's blood in it, a small amount of lime, and lime blossom. This is quite a complex beauty. Very sweet without being totally foody, long lasting and strong.

There’s not a lot of change here from vial to dry down. Essentially it’s smooth, creamy, sweet and warm, with a super faint hint of citrus. It makes me think of milk that’s been warmed up with a cinnamon stick and a piece of lemon peel. This perfume sits very close to the skin – barely any sillage at all – and it disappears very quickly. I couldn’t smell it at all after an hour, and reapplying only extended its life a smidge longer. I want to like this, but it’s just too fleeting.

Rating:
2/5 If it had hung around a bit longer I’d have given it a 3, as it is pleasant and comforting.


Day 47!

Blood and Donuts - Deep Midnight Perfumes

Details:
Blood & Donuts
Deep Midnight Perfumes

Notes: 
Dark Egyptian amber and gaharu wood, well blended and served with creamy vanilla, cinnamon spice, rich chocolate, and a splash of turkish coffee. It's.... to die for.

In the vial I smell chocolate and vanilla. Once applied it’s spicy vanilla coffee. I don’t drink chai, but I imagine this is what it smells like (although is chai coffee? I’m not sure it is...). The synthetic note that a few of the Deep Midnight perfumes doesn’t show up in this one. The dry down starts as a fairly strong amber, which goes a little dusty for a while, then mellows to a slightly spicy vanilla amber. Sillage is low to medium – I caught a whiff of it now and then when I moved my arm but I wasn’t aware of it otherwise. Longevity is medium – about 5-6 hours.

Rating:
2/5 It has all the notes I like but it doesn’t really do anything for me.

Day 46!

Still here

Hello! Just a quick note to say I haven't lost interest and wandered away - it's just been too damn hot here the last few days. I've still been trying out perfumes, but I can't work up the energy to write anything about them beyond a few notes on my phone. I'll be back in a couple of days when it cools down and I'll post all my catch-ups at once. Then I'll go and catch up on everyone else's blogs.

I am living in the wrong country for someone who hates hot weather as much as I do. Waaaaaah!

Almond Milk - Firebird Bath and Body

Details: 
Almond Milk 
Firebird Bath and Body (formerly Flourish Bath and Body)

Notes: 
Soft, sensual, intoxicating: almond, vanilla, musk, a wisp of white chocolate. This fragrance manages to be both a soothing comfort scent and incredibly sexy at the same time (try it- you'll see what I mean). Sugary perfume haters need not apply, but lovers of all things sweet and gourmand- I think you'll enjoy this one quite a bit.

Oh, Almond Milk. What can I say about you that does you justice? This is pretty much my all time favourite perfume. I have also bought it for my mum, who is definitely not a perfume person (I think she might have had the same bottle of Tweed for about 15 years when I was a kid), and she loves it. It’s not a complex blend, but it’s warm, comforting, and I have never smelled anything else exactly like it.

In the bottle it smells like marzipan, not a scent I’m overly fond of. Once applied, the almond retreats – this is an almond perfume for people who don’t like almond. It’s a vanilla for people who don’t like vanilla. White chocolate for people who don’t like chocolate. Musk for people who don’t like musk. I’m not kidding. It smells of all these things, and yet it doesn’t.

I have always thought that this perfume perfectly captures the essence of ‘baby head’ smell. It doesn’t exactly smell like a baby’s head, but it’s that same perfect, compulsively sniffable feeling you get when you hold a baby. Or when I do at any rate.

I can’t rave highly enough about this perfume. If you don’t like gourmands at all, or feminine scents at all (though I think a man could easily pull this off and smell amazing), it’s not for you. But for everyone else, get in there. It’s about to be discontinued, and I’ve ordered a back up bottle and seriously considering grabbing a couple more while I can.

Rating: 
Eleventy million/5

Day 45!

Ostara - Alchemic Muse

Details: 
Ostara
Spring 2012
Alchemic Muse

Notes: 
The eternal embodiment of spring pays tribute to you with a mix of hyacinth blossoms, myrtle, and wild heather fused with the soft green foliage of moss and ivy, gently grounded by a warm and earthy base of clove, cinnamon, and myrrh.

Not to put too fine a point on it, in the bottle this smells very synthetic. And yet I like it. It's so old lady-ish and I have a fondness for old lady perfumes. Applied the synthetic note is still there, but not as obvious. I smell hyacinths and lots of lush, damp greenery. It makes me think of an English country garden - something like this:

 Source

Despite the apparent presence of possible amping notes like clove and cinnamon, this doesn't really change much on me as it dries down. I like it, though it’s nothing amazing – just a pretty, very old lady-ish Springtime floral. Noodles commented on this one too, just after I applied it she walked in and asked what I was wearing and said, “I like it.” High praise indeed. It’s quite strong at first, but the dry down is close to the skin. Longevity is medium – about 4 hours or so.

Rating:

3/5 As I said, it’s a very pretty floral, but it’s nothing remarkable.

Day 44!

Silver Carnations - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Silver Carnations
Possets Perfumes

Notes: 
Long lasting and just beautiful from the start, Silver Carnations stays true from the first moment until the last. The "silver" part that you love combined with the spice and flower carnation that you wanted. A winner.

Several people suggested this one to me when I was waxing rhapsodic about carnations in my Lace Draped Spectre review, and I'm glad they did because I love it. In the vial it's straight up carnation with something a bit sweet - it's not sugary exactly, but it's like there's a dab of sweet syrup in there. There's no spiciness like the carnation in Lace Draped Spectre - this one is soft and feminine, though still reasonably potent. Once applied I can smell the 'silver' - something metallic hovering around the edges.  The sillage is medium - it's there, but it's not slapping people in the face. Lasting power is pretty decent - I reapplied after about 5 hours. This one's going on the full bottle list for sure.

Rating:
4/5

Day 43!

'67 Chevy Impala - Delightful Rot

Details:
'67 Chevy Impala
Delightful Rot

Notes:
A man's scent. Bay rum, spiked with graveyard dirt, gunpowder, a touch of leather and a ring of salt, with an overtone of masculine musk. 

Manly men doing manly things. When I was 11 or 12 my aunt and uncle had a friend who was extremely masculine - I think he was a truck driver, and he could fix cars, had a motorbike, and wore neatly pressed Hard Yakka shirts with the sleeves rolled up and Blundstone boots. I had the biggest crush on him, even though he was probably in his mid-30s at the time. He smelled like this perfume - like a mechanic's garage - car oil, manliness and ability to fix things.

Once it dries down I can smell the bay rum (which I'm really starting to like generally as a scent note), leather and musk. This is an amazing masculine scent - I haven't been able to stop sniffing myself while wearing it. Having said that, I would probably never wear it - it's just too blokey for me. I feel like if I wore this I might grow testicles.

Rating:
4/5

Day 42!

Vaudeville - Nevermore Body Company

Details: 
Vaudeville
Nevermore Body Company

Notes: 
Freak shows, concert saloons, carnival show and Vaudeville captured in one fragrance of sweet chocolate base with spicy pepper, fresh brewed Espresso and a mouthwatering Merlot wine bouquet of wild grape, strawberry stems and a hint of spice.

When I test a perfume, I like to know as little about it as possible, as if I'm already aware of particular notes, I find that influences me and sometimes I start imagining I can smell them, even if I can't.Luckily, I have the memory of a goldfish, so when I order a perfume online because it sounds like something I'd like, by the time it reaches me, I've forgotten what the notes are. All this is a roundabout way of saying that what I got from Vaudeville, and what the notes tell me I should have gotten are two vastly different things.

What I expected from the name was a carnival-type scent, some concoction of popcorn, candy, fairy floss, etc. In the vial I can smell chocolate and wine. Once applied, I got an apple smell - sort of cidery and alcoholic. A couple of minutes later I sniffed again and got a big whiff of liquorice. Now, these are both notes I'd expect to find in a perfume called Vaudeville, but imagine my surprise when I looked it up and found neither of them mentioned. The alcohol can probably be explained away by the Merlot (though it really did smell distinctly apple-ish), but where's that liquorice coming from?

A couple of hours later it was almost gone - the sillage is quite low and the lasting power... meh. I reapplied and this time I got the coffee. I wonder if that's because now I knew the coffee was there? I swear I did not smell coffee the first time I applied it. How odd.

Rating:
3/5 Interesting, and I like it, but I don't think I'd buy a full size of it.

Day 41!

Boba - Delightful Rot

Details:
Boba
Delightful Rot

Notes: 
A sweet fragrance, reminiscent of your favorite bubble tea! With notes of sweet milk, cinnamon and spice tea, and a touch of black coconut, this is a definite foodie scent, with a mild and sweet dry down. 

In the vial and when first applied, this is really fruity and bright. I've never had bubble tea so I don't know exactly what it smells like, but I imagined it would be like a milkshake, whereas this is more like a smoothie. The dry down is more milky and creamy, with no particularly distinct notes - it's sweet and warm, and a tiny bit spicy. The sillage is low and it doesn't last long - it had disappeared entirely within a couple of hours.

Rating: 
2/5 It's okay, but there was nothing that grabbed my attention.

Day 40!

Luminaria - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Luminaria 
Yule 2012 - Dark Revels
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
No idea. I can't find the original description. Mint, vanilla, something-something...

On the first sniff of this on skin there’s a rush of cold air, like that iciness you get in extra strong mints. It’s odd and a bit startling. It’s very fleeting – I could almost convince myself I imagined it – and then I’m left with a creamy, cakey scent with a touch of mint. The dry down is a slightly smokey vanilla, like buttercream icing that’s heavy on good vanilla extract. The kind of vanilla that Ina Garten would use. This perfume didn’t have much throw on me, and faded a lot within a couple of hours. I’m undecided about whether or not I like it. I certainly don’t hate it, and it’s interesting enough that I kept sniffing my wrist all the time, but it wasn’t what I expected. For some reason I imagined in my head that this would be more like BPAL’s Snow White and it’s not at all. I remember snow was mentioned in the description, but I don't get anything like that other than that weird cold rush at the very beginning, just a warm gourmand perfume. Oh well, I have a full bottle so I can keep trying it to my heart’s content until I make a decision one way or the other. 

Rating: 
Undecided.

Day 39!

Breathless - Twyla Perfumes

Details:
Breathless
Twyla Perfumes & Apothecary

Notes: 

A scent inspired by the Jean-Luc Godard movie; a little romantic, a little smutty, a little noir and very very French. Red and white rose, vintage patchouli, myrrh, cacao absolute, bourbon vanilla, and sandalwood. This scent is absolutely beautiful, with neither the rose nor the patchouli overwhelming, balanced by a healthy dose of deep, dark chocolate.  The rose is steam-distilled and very smooth, the patchouli vintage and ultra-dark, complex and wine-like in its scent and body. The myrrh adds depth while and the cacao is rich and bittersweet.  Bourbon vanilla adds a lovely non-cloying and richness only real vanilla can achieve while sandalwood rounds it out with a lovely woody creaminess. You don't want to skip this one, even if you think you don't like patchouli!

In the vial I smell bitter dark chocolate and patchouli. It’s very dark and somewhat masculine. Once applied, the rose is detectable, but the patchouli really amps on my skin, and it almost gets to the point where it’s too much for me. As it dries down, the chocolate comes out again, but it’s smoother this time, still dark but not bitter, warmed and softened by the vanilla and sandalwood. Like the majority of Twyla’s scents, this one sits close to the skin, but the lasting power was pretty good – I could still smell it 6 hours later. I liked this quite a lot, but probably not enough for a full bottle, as that patchouli would no doubt get to me after a while. I think this would be an amazing scent for a man, and once again I must lament that I don’t have one to test these kinds of things on. SAD FACE. 

Rating: 

3/5

Day 38!

Dee - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Dee
Bewitching Brews
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
John Dee: master of science, alchemy and magic. Hermetic philospher in the schools of Rosicrucian Christian Mysticism and Platonic-Pythagorean doctrine, and Queen Elizabeth's astrologer, advisor, cryptologist and spy. With Edward Kelly, he created a field of study and work in Angelic Evocation, and isolated the Angelic language: Enochian. His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. 

I had an imp of Dee a couple of years ago and I remember I liked it enough that I was considering a full size bottle at one point. This time around I’m not so enamoured of it. In the imp and when first applied, it reminded me a lot of some kind of common 1970s cologne – the kind my dad would have been wearing back in the day. It’s a little bit sweet as well, like there’s cologne mixed with baby powder. When I looked up the notes I realised why – my dad used to wear English Leather and this is pretty much exactly what it smells like. When I smell this I think of terrible 1970s Cleo centrefolds (you’d have to be a 35+ Aussie to get that), dad shorts with socks and sandals, Abba, olive green and orange kitchen decor, and rissoles. It’s... well, it’s daggy. That’s pretty much it.

What I think of when I smell this perfume (that's my brother mid 1970s)

Rating:

2/5

Day 37!

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster - Delightful Rot

Details: 
Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster
Delightful Rot

Notes:
Invented by Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster is described as "the alcoholic equivalent of a mugging - expensive and bad for the head" and drinking one "is like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick". With a bright lemon top note backed by a tropical, fruity scent, Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster is reminiscent of a posh, pricey cocktail. 

I'm not a big fan of science fiction, and I've never read The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, so I don't have any affinity with this name or anything. It was a freebie I received with an order I did recently from Delightful Rot. In the vial this is a sickly sweet lemon sherbet. Once applied it's super fruity and sweet - it makes me think of those really cheap imported lollies you can buy in junk shops like The Reject Shop. The dry down is... fly spray. Well, it is on me anyway. I really hated this. I resisted the urge to scrub it off because I wanted to see if it would improve but it didn't. Thankfully the sillage and lasting power was lowish - it was gone in about 3 hours.

Rating: 
1/5

Day 36!

Snake Charmer - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details:
Snake Charmer*
Carnaval Noir 
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes:

Sensual, sibilant, sexual and hypnotic: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut.

In the imp this smells like aged Snake Oil, a deeper version of my bottle (bought in January 2010), with the incense more prominent. On the skin the vanilla is there and it reminds me more of Womb Furie. It's quite sweet and I actually think I like it even better than Snake Oil, which can sometimes be a bit heavy on the incense for me. I could swear there's a note of something like sarsparilla in there too - it's quite faint, but it adds a little something-something, whatever it is. This is a Limited Edition, of course, so there's not much likelihood of me being able to pick up a full bottle anytime soon, but I definitely would given the chance.

*This is a decant so I don't know if it's the original or Snake Charmer Resurrected. 

Rating: 
5/5 Gorgeous! 

Day 35!

Love Bite - Alchemic Muse

Details:
Love Bite
Valentine's Day
Alchemic Muse

Notes: 
Sugary ripe raspberries over a blanket of pink and white rose petals with hints of warm musk, sweet and creamy vanilla, and just a delicate breath of white lilies and fresh peonies.

In the vial and when first applied this is all rose - hugely so. It's quite strong and a bit on the creamy side. I love rose, but sometimes it goes crazy on me, and this seems to be one of those times. For a good 20 minutes or so that's all I could smell. When it started to dry down the rose finally subsided a fair bit and I could smell the raspberry and a sweet, slightly sugary vanilla musk. The rose is still there all the way through but not nearly as powerful as in the beginning. Once it dries down, this perfume sits quite close to the skin, but it lasted a really long time on me. I put it on about dinner time and could still smell it on my wrist the next morning. I don't know where the lilies and peonies were - I never picked those up at all.

Rating: 
3/5 Super pretty, but I'm not sure I'd get use of a full bottle. I have too many other rose scents.

Day 34!

Coco Violette - Deep Midnight

Details: 
Coco Violette
Deep Midnight Perfumes

Notes: 
Reminiscent of old fashioned violet candies and sweet childhood memories. This is a wonderful scent for grown up ladies too! Old fashioned violet, milk chocolate, and a hint of creamy vanilla.

In the vial this is a chocolate floral with a sharpish green note. Once applied it's violets and that green note still hovering. The chocolate is very much in the background on the skin, although it comes back again in the dry down, which is a chocolate floral sweetened by the vanilla. Like some of the other Deep Midnight scents I've tried, that odd synthetic note is there, and I'm not keen on it. I wanted to like this, as it's my kind of thing, but... no, it's not happening. Sillage is lowish - it's not super close to the skin but doesn't have a lot of throw. Longevity is medium, it disappeared pretty much entirely in about 6 hours.

Rating:
2/5

Day 33!

Pomona - Possets Perfume

Details:
Pomona
Possets Perfumes

Notes: 
A really special blend, Pomona is the essence of many fall harvest fruits of the earth playing on each others charms. I was amazed at how good this particular mixture of flora smelled! One clue, all of the ingredients start with a "p". Named for the goddess of the earth's fruiting. Unisex, for the patchouli lover, but patchouli haters have love it, too! Characteristics: fruity, patchouli, spicy, autumn, long lasting, home scent.

The only reason I bought this to try is because every time I see any discussion of Possets, someone always brings up Pomona and then a bunch of people chime in to bang on about how awesome it is. I didn't expect to like it much - the description mentions fruit, after all. But it really grew on me after a while. 

In the vial there's a sort of toasty sweetish smell, like maybe popcorn? Or pecans? It reminds me a lot of carnival scents so it's something related to that. Once applied there's a fruit note at first, which I think is peach, and maybe pear. Yeah, there's definitely pear in there. Surprisingly, it's not awful on me. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. It's very perfumey, but not quite like any other perfume I've ever smelled before. I can't smell any patchouli at all, which is odd as that's a note that tends to dominate on me (annoyingly).The dry down is kind of a bakery scent, biscuit or pastry, and the pear comes out more. It's like a pear tart.

The sillage is medium, as is longevity. I needed to reapply about 5 hours after the first application. I don't know if I'd wear this, but it's definitely interesting, and not really like anything else I have. 

Rating:
3.5/5 Not quite a 4 - I doubt I'd ever buy a full bottle, but a cut above the rabble. 

Day 32!